Saturday, 7 June 2014

Exploring Machu Picchu, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World

It is so far, one of the highlights of our South America trip, the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu. From Aguas Calientes it is about a 30 minute drive up the mountain to the entrance of ancient city. When you are fit, it is also possible to walk but it takes a few hours. We believe it is better to spend your time up the mountain, visiting the ruins and enjoying the views.

The first picture is one of our favorites. Although it is a typical Machu Picchu shot, it is pure magic. We could stay for hours on this place and enjoy the view. We stand on the Old Mountain (Machu Picchu) and behind the city ruins we see the Young Mountain (Waynapicchu). When we were at home, we imagined being here, looking down on the houses and thought it would take a long climb to get there. This is not true, a calm ten minute walk from the entrance brings you right where you want to be.

Tour guides are offering their services at the entrance. We recommend you to join a group or take a private guide. They accompany you on a walk through the city and explain all areas. Some buildings are houses, others temples or astronomy complexes. The tour takes about two hours and is very fascinating. Sometimes it involves a bit of climbing.

We were lucky with the weather, sunny and almost no clouds. Between the rocks we saw a Peruvian rabbit called viscacha and on one of the higher points llama’s walked freely around the visitors. Certainly the people who brought some food were very interesting for them. I had to be a bit careful with my camera because the llama’s tried to grab it. What an adventure.

WOW!!! Your pictures are totally awesome!! I see you in the first one and it looks like you are king of the world. I would never have known that it is not as much of a climb, glad you told us that. Still, the place was well protected. Truly amazing! The rabbit looks more like our squirrels. Llamas will spit, my daughter in law got spit on by one.

Oh la! Stunning images Filip, they were so fantastic it felt like being there and as a result a few of the images made my vertigo tummy do a flip :) What an experience this must have been for you. You have so many wonderful images from your travels to keep for always.